WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team dropped a non-conference matchup with Carlow University of the NAIA 70-69 in the Salvitti Family Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.
 
The Presidents owned a lead over the Celtics for over 25 minutes of game time, however a late Carlow push propelled the Celtics to the win.
 
The Red and Black got season-best scoring performances from Okikiola Agbale (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) and Adam Alexander (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland). Agbale recorded a 20 point, 10 rebound double-double while Alexander poured in 10 points.
 
The Presidents led by as many as eight points in the second half, with Primo Zini's (Morgantown, W.Va./Trinity Christian) layup handing W&J a 45-37 lead with 15:57 to play.
 
Carlow took advantage of three President turnovers as the Celtics embarked on an 11-3 lead to tie the game at 48 with 12:30 left in regulation.
 
Agbale scored the next four points as W&J enjoyed its final lead of the evening, 52-48 with 10:44 in the second half. The Celtics scored the game's next nine points and stayed one step ahead of the Presidents the rest of the way.
 
W&J trimmed Carlow's lead to 66-63 following a three from Zach Queen (Jeannette, Pa./Hempfield Area), but a Carlow free throw on the next possession provided a four-point cushion for the visitors.
 
Agbale pulled the Presidents back within one again with a three-point play with just over a minute remaining.
 
Trailing 69-66 in the game's final 30 seconds, the Presidents were unable to score and the Celtics held on to collect their first win of the season.
 
The Presidents and Celtics both got off to a slow start on the evening as the game featured just four field goals combined in the game's first four minutes.
 
The Red and Black seized an early advantage by reeling off 11-straight points to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 13-4 lead in just over two minutes of game time.
 
Agbale and Alexander each contributed a pair of layups to the spurt and Jonathan DeVito (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) punctuated the run with a three with 14:04 left in the half.
 
Carlow narrowed the Presidents' lead to 22-20 with 5:50 remaining the first half with a 12-5 stretch with the only President points coming on two more Alexander lay-ins.
 
W&J responded with seven-straight points on a DeVito layup, Queen three and a basket from Jonathan Howland (Goshen, Ky./North Oldham) that gave W&J a 29-20 advantage with 2:36 to play in the first.
 
The Celtics responded by scoring eight of the final 10 points of the half to narrow the W&J advantage to 31-28 at the halftime break.
 
Agbale and Alexander were joined in double figures by DeVito and Zini. DeVito finished with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals while Zini had 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
 
The Presidents used a 47-28 rebounding edge to outscore Carlow 15-2 in second chance points.
 
W&J resumes Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play at Bethany on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.